Director: Paul Greengrass
Writers: Brad Inglesby, Paul Greengrass, Lizzie Johnson
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, America Ferrera, Yul Vasquez
Synopsis: A wayward school bus driver and a dedicated school teacher battle to save 22 children from a terrifying inferno.
Director Paul Greengrass is no stranger to bringing true events to life on screen and putting audiences right in the middle of those events in as visceral and intense a way as possible, with movies like United 93 and Captain Phillips being clear examples of his method. With The Lost Bus, Greengrass showcases the devastating 2018 Camp wildfire in California, and the true story about a school bus that powered through the fire as the situation continued to escalate.
Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey) is a school bus driver in Paradise, CA who is trying his best to keep things together as his personal and professional life continue to become more and more frayed. On November 7, 2018, Kevin finishes his dropoff of the schoolkids he is in charge of and is heading back to drop the bus off when a fire that began earlier in the morning begins to engulf Paradise and shut down the city at an alarmingly fast rate, and puts 22 kids in Ponderosa Elementary at risk as their parents can’t get to them, so it is up to Kevin and teacher Mary Ludwig (America Ferrera) to help get the children to safety.
The Camp fire was the result of a poor transmission line owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) catching fire and the embers being blown across by high speed winds, and it was the deadliest and most visceral wildfire in California history, wiping out 153,336 acres of land and killing 85 people, costing around $16.5 billion in damages. Anyone who was around at the time, which would be many reading this piece, would know of the news surrounding the fire and the devastation left in its wake. In The Lost Bus, Greengrass’ understanding of the horrors of this event and the hopelessness as it continued to spread is on full display, as the audience feels like they’re on the ride with Kevin, Mary, and the schoolkids as they ride through one fiery obstacle after another.
Combined with spectacular visual effects, a booming sound design, and a thunderous score from James Newton Howard, The Lost Bus envelops that feeling around the viewers throughout, and once the escape begins, the movie turns into an intense disaster movie of epic proportions. There is nothing beautiful about this situation, and the heat of the flames around cars, streets and trees feels close the whole time. On the other side of things, the scenes involving firefighters and personnel trying to understand the situation better and get a handle on it as soon as possible is very well executed, and highlights the urgency of the matter and the unpreparedness of just how much worse the fire can get. It isn’t long before a low-risk area is suddenly engulfed in flames with no way out, which leads to some nerve wracking sequences that are edge-of-the-seat worthy.
Making his return to acting after almost six years, Matthew McConaughey is fantastic as Kevin, embodying the urgency and relentlessness of the real life figure trying to survive this catastrophe, as well as the fear and anxiety that comes from wanting to help more and get to his family, who are in imminent danger as he tries to save the children. He is backed by an equally fantastic America Ferrera, who adds another layer of humanity to the story and tries her best to keep things level as it becomes more and more difficult to keep the children safe. The desperation that comes through both is highlighted by their solid onscreen chemistry, and make the dramatized for screen situation they’re in feel more like the real event.
It is a bit unfortunate then that despite such highs, The Lost Bus is sometimes brought down by a script with some extremely wobbly dialogue and a first act that feels tedious to say the least. Kevin’s family dynamic with his son and estranged wife lead to some clumsily executed moments, and the emotional depths the movie searches for in those moments feels missing, partly also due to many cliched moments of tension playing out between the characters. It also is marred by not giving enough time to the other characters. Besides everyone on the bus, many supporting characters including Kevin’s son and mother are left underdeveloped and only given more depth via an exposition dump. They barely feature in the movie enough to make a more powerful impact. Once the fire makes its way to Paradise and everything gets dialed up to 11, the movie improves significantly and leads to a spectacular finale. However, due to its rough opening 30, it falls short of reaching greatness across the board. By the end, The Lost Bus is a solid disaster movie that manages to convey the tragedy of the Camp Fire effectively, but slightly less effective as an extended character piece that could bring it all home a bit better.
